Map of Italy showing Brindisi in the southeast

Brindisi (in Latin Brundusium, Brundisium) is an ancient city in the Italian region of Puglia.

It had 100,000 inhabitants and was important because of its large natural harbor. In 245 BC or 267 BC it was conquered by the Romans. The famous Roman poet Virgilius died here on September 19, 19 BC. The Latin poet Pacevius was born here.

Later Brindisi was conquered by Ostrogoths, and reconquered by the Byzantine Empire, who ruled Brindisi until 1070 and invasion of Normans. In 836 Brindisi was burned by Saracen pirates. Later, from 1268, Brindisi was ruled by the Angevins, and then by the Aragonese, Venetia and Spain in turn, falling to Austrian rule in 1707-1734, and afterwards to the Bourbons. Between September 1943 and February 1944 the city functioned as the temporary capital of Italy.